Like the
Thermaltake 1U extruded heatsink we reviewed previously, the Thermaltake TFCFR06 "1U-Orb" is an older heatsink. It was originally released sometime around the days of the golden Orb so it will be interesting to see how well, or poorly, it stands up to todays 1U server processors.

The 1U Orb uses the old radial clipping system that brings back memories of broken Athlon's left right and center. In any case, limited to a maximum height of about 28mm, 1U heatsinks have to do a lot with a little bit of area, and the orignal orbs were generally good performers for their price. Will the 1U Orb be able to live up to its older brother, or will it follow in the footsteps of the 1U extruded heatsink?

According to the Thermaltake website, the small fan that sits in the middle
of the heatsink draws about 12CFM worth of air over the many fins on the
circumference.

Thermaltake also list the heatsink as being made for socket 370 processors,
but I think it would be fair to limit that to processors which output no more
than 50W of heat energy.

Unlike other passive 1U cooling solutions, this 1U orb
by its very design
really needs that fan to be in there. The impact of
simply leaving this heatsink in the jet stream of air within a 1U case would probably be
pretty low, given that there is no easy way for the air to enter
and exit the heatsink from the out side.

Thermaltake TFCFR06 Heatsink From
All Angles

The Fan: The little seven-bladed fan
spins around at about 5000RPM drawing air in from the top and down out through the many fins which surround it. The entire heatsink measures just 69mm across, and the base section is a mere 52mm in diameter. The fan is connected to the motherboard via a 3-pin power connector with RPM monitoring.

Heatsink Top:
Recessed
15mm within the fins and heatsink body itself, the fan only works in this way.
Three small screw holes keep the fan in place, while the two
steel pins are used to hold the clipping mechanism. The fins are
about 19mm tall and about 8mm wide.

Side A:
From the side angle you can
really get a feel for just how squat this heatsink
really is. At just 25mm in height, it leaves roughly 3mm of space between itself
and the top of the 1U server for air intake. The fins are 1mm thick and spaced 2mm apart at
the circumference.

Heatsink Base:The base plate sticks up 5mm above
the rest of the fins and the
finish is very good. We tested the 1U orb on an engineers straight
edge and it was perfectly flat. A small square of silicon thermal compound comes pre applied to the
base to ensure an ideal thermal interface. The clipping mechanism is better suited to heatspreader
capped processors, as it is a bit awkward to use and engage.